OR do they? What is this ambiguity supposed to mean? Is a ruse that hints they are using whatever is cheapest at the time of production? I'm thinking....yes.

Now we all know the main culprits in our diets, currently, to be the excess use of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), which goes by many names in attempts to sway the consumer, and sodium. However, we must also be aware of the amount of soybean and cottonseed oils we are now consuming, also.

If a little does a little good, a lot will do a lot of...O.K. let's look closer.

The soy bean, in itself, is a good thing with many health benefits when in its naturally processed state, or fermented, in proper amounts, without having been sprayed and fed other chemicals to make them higher producers, of course. This isn't the 1960's Hippy-Soy, Folks. Where soybean products are concerned, I'm concerned. Too much soy is being connected with affecting under-active thyroids, feeding breast cancer, kidney stones, allergies, and interference with medications like antibiotics and blood-thinners.

The United States is the leading soybean producer and exporter. Soybeans comprise about 90 percent of U.S. oilseed production, while other oilseeds--including peanuts, sunflower seed, canola, and flax--make up the remainder.

Supply and Demand at work, here. Guess who, combined, owned over 500,000 acres of soybean crops in 2005? Dupont and Asgrow. Asgrow is a brand owned by Monsanto who owns the 'patent' on the pesticide-resistant soybean crops and weed-killer (Round-up) that legally prevents farmers from growing any seed except Monsanto's (http://farmindustrynews.com/3-top-oil-crops).

I've mentioned this in the past. This is another reason I avoid US-grown soy milk and limit, if any, tofu, edamame, miso, soy sauces, liquid smoke, and any other items that cannot have their origin identified. I've found I can, mostly, trust the UK, some Canadian, and Indian processed foods that list and have the fewest ingredients on that list. Basically, if you can't identify it, you shouldn't eat it.

Cottonseed oil is listed often in processed foods, although exactly when cotton became something to eat rather than wear is answered by The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. They've concluded that what is left in the processed seed or oil lacks appreciable levels of toxins and pesticide. Good to know. Note: It does NOT say the residue is nonexistent.

Everything in moderation, right?

I used to believe that until I began to read labels. The television ads that advocate HFCS as natural and legally safe are fully aware it's only if you eat and drink a little. Yet they sell to every manufacturer and each food manufacturer not practicing natural organic methods, is putting it in everything processed and sold to you, the consumer.

We need fat in our diets for our health. We don't need the soybean oil (which is Identity-Protected by Monsanto), cottonseed oil (please see above), OR palm kernel oil (which comes from palm 'seeds' which means less palm trees in countries that produce it, therefore, decimation of even more of our natural oxygen-producers).

I see that of my preferred oils, olive, safflower, coconut, grape, and sesame, the cheapest available oil is Canola. I used to wonder what a canola plant looked like. It's a rapeseed plant hybrid, it's said. It wasn't an attractive name for Canada to use. Voila! Canola Oil! Canadian Oil-Low Acid! Oh, I'd love to have been in the Think Tank for that meeting!

After further research of the rapeseed plant which is related to mustard and the cabbage family. I determined through Snopes.com that maybe it's not that bad. They claim it's NOT Genetically Modified but a hybrid of plants. It has health benefits, as do all listed in this post, but I am not convinced that it's being grown without Monsanto's herbicide residue that may be building up in our bodies if we have so many other foods in our diet with additional pesticides. This is in addition to what faces nature, on which we are dependent.

Before you assume I'm pushing a vegan grow-your-own and boil your water lifestyle, let me say this. Read the labels. Just read the labels. If it's uncertain of what's in it, ask yourself, "Do I feel safe eating this or feeding it to my family?". Charlie Chaplain, one of my favorite brains, said,

He summed up everything from Art to Food to Faith! I'm no Jada Pinkett Smith who says she doesn't eat for enjoyment. I do! I see the Beauty in the food provided for us. I love the colors and creativity, the tastes, the smells, the variety and will always. I live Life according to letting my Yes be my Yes and my No, my No, keeping it as simple as possible in this generation. How much explaining should our food need? Why should there be any uncertainty of what it includes? If there is an AND/OR I simply walk away from it.

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About Me

I'm supposed to say I have MS, MS doesn't have me. Yeah. Wife of one, mother of one. Whatever comes at me, I may hate the sin but always love the sinner. Seeking the Peace and Joy that Adam and Eve messed up for us but that is available....if we want it.